Rationale

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The Forum pour l’Emploi, Proactif and Caritas Accueil et Solidarité offer employment possibilities for individuals with problems of social and professional (re)insertion. With a view to preparing them to enter the classic job market in the right state ("fit for a job"), the demands are relatively high, particularly as regards punctuality, speed and the quality of their work. However, despite a work program and framework that are adapted to the group concerned, certain individuals are not able to satisfy these requirements and thus cannot complete the professional reinsertion program.

There are many reasons why these individuals are left behind: after a difficult personal, educational and professional history, they accumulate specific supplementary problems:

- Excessive use of, or dependence on, substances such as alcohol, medication or illegal drugs. Such behaviours have consequences on personal faculties (such as lack of concentration, behavioural problems and communication difficulties) and professional faculties (such as absenteeism, lateness, and lack of precision at work).- Fragile personality and mental health or even psychiatric problems.- Very poor social and family environments. Those concerned suffer from major deficiencies in terms of social behaviour (problems with managing time, lack of knowledge about personal hygiene, problems with handling a budget, often leading to excess debt, etc.). Often, these individuals have failed to complete their education , failing and repeating, which makes them feel mediocre and lowers their sense of self-worth. - Lack of suitable housing, even homelessness. This problem leads to others in areas such as childcare, administrative issues, etc. Again, these have direct repercussions on work.

These problems affect the concentration necessary for good work, and are also the cause of a very high rate of absenteeism. Moreover, management personnel, particularly team leaders, are not prepared to face the specific problems of highly disadvantaged people.

Generally, these problems impede individuals from effectively regaining contact with the working world. Consequently, they cannot be kept in the work insertion process, as they jeopardise the motivation and working dynamics of the others. This has serious consequences for the individuals concerned, who once more find themselves faced with a professional and personal failure that reinforces their exclusion. Thanks to the networking of the measures offered, this further exclusion may be avoided.

In addition, the associations that deal with dependent individuals have difficulties in returning them to the job market or even including them in measures aimed at reemployment. This underlines the importance of close collaboration between the structures (services). Therefore, among those taken in by the Centre Emmanuel and Caritas Accueil et Solidarité are individuals who could, with solid guidance and constant perseverance, return to a kind of preparation for work , for instance, the programmes run by Proactif and the Forum pour l’Emploi.

Objective

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Starting with entry into the workplace as the reference around which the individuals can stabilise themselves, it is a question of developing preparation measures that bear in mind the most patent disadvantages of these persons (hereinafter termed “beneficiaries”), be they practical or psychosocial. This will be carried out through five kinds of actions:

A. A detailed database will be developed to improve precise awareness of the phenomena that form the basis of the extreme exclusion of the beneficiaries. This will consist of gathering a certain amount of information on the beneficiaries, with respect to rules and confidentiality, from among the partners of the PDD. This database is also an important work tool for better networking of the structures and individuals involved in the process of professional and social reintegration where people are engaged. Thus, the path to individual reinsertion, adapted to the beneficiary’s specific problems, can be followed continuously through each structure. Finally, it allows for the comparison of the experiences of each participant and the mutual enrichment of the management personnel.

B. Based on an initial balance of psychosocial and professional abilities, and starting with the beneficiary’s own personal plans, the measures are adapted to the specific problems of the individual. The most urgent problems are solved: clarification of the legal situation, search for housing, contact with the specialised services for dependence and mental health problems, motivation for professional plans, etc. Intensive accompaniment and follow-up, extended beyond the measures of preparation for reemployment in themselves, are the priorities of this first contact phase and are maintained as long as required.

C. In order to progressively improve the professional and psychosocial abilities of the individuals, empowerment measures are proposed, including the acquisition of the following:

- Personal skills: personal hygiene and clothing, a healthy, balanced diet, a lifestyle adapted to the professional situation, etc.- Domestic skills: maintenance of housing (cleaning and minor repairs), preparation of meals, management of a budget, etc.- Social skills: behaviour adapted to a certain situation (teamwork, interaction with superiors, respect for commitments made with third parties, etc.), improvement of communication skills and information on the working world, social security, social assistance, justice, etc.- Basic functional professional skills: use and maintenance of work tools, measuring techniques, relearning of basic arithmetic, literacy, etc.

D. In order to facilitate the social reinsertion of individuals, and in response to the situation of lodging in shelters, a new form of short- and medium-term accommodation is proposed: the possibility of housing these individuals in an existing family or community structure in direct contact with the "neighbourhood", while ensuring follow-up on them. The emphasis is placed on the human environment and relationships based on mutual respect, while conforming to the rules established by common accord; also stressed is reinsertion in harmony with neighbourhood life. The idea is based on volunteers willing and prepared to lodge these individuals or simply help them in different administrative areas; persons who can receive them in their homes after a prison sentence to guarantee a direct link with a welcoming structure. Initial training and continuous follow-up of the family or community welcoming groups are essential for good preparation and for avoiding the isolation of the project’s beneficiaries.

E. The fifth step is the development of training for the management personnel, adapted to the specific needs of the beneficiaries. These personnel will benefit from outside supervision that will allow them to express their professional experience and gradually readapt their intervention strategies. The aim is to avoid the loss of motivation.

F. The sixth measure consists of reinforcing the teams with specialised personnel (psychiatric nurses, educators experienced in the field, etc). These professionals would ensure the daily treatment of dependence problems and ensure an evaluation of the problems encountered in work placement, particularly through regular meetings with the team leaders (feedback). The establishment of multidisciplinary teams strengthens exchanges with the teams in the different organisations.

The first innovative element is the placement of six existing structures into a network. This will allow for the continuous management and treatment of the beneficiaries, going from a state of marginalisation and extreme exclusion (homelessness, drug-dependence, a history of prison, social isolation) to lasting social and professional reinsertion. The aim of this network is to open toward other structures that are in contact with the beneficiaries.

The networking is not only intended for the reciprocal adaptation of the measures offered by the different structures, but also includes common training for the management personnel (secondary users), making them aware of the difficulties and problems encountered by the beneficiaries in the different stages of their evolution.

Finally, this networking allows for an individualised approach to users (individual long-term plans) which includes the possibility of failure without the person leaving the project. It is not the individuals who must adapt; rather, the measures offered are adapted to their effective abilities and potentials.

Reinsertion through neighbourhood life and the use of volunteers are new reflections in the work being done with excluded individuals, both in the job market and in society. The possibility of provisional housing through integration into an existing family structure, in direct contact with the neighbourhood, or alternative accommodation in halls, offers a real chance of re-socialisation.

Empowerment

With beneficiaries

In order to progressively improve the professional and psychosocial skills of individuals, empowerment measures are proposed to those concerned. Their aims include the acquisition of the following:

- Personal skills: personal hygiene and clothing, a healthy, balanced diet, a lifestyle adapted to the professional situation, etc.- Domestic skills: maintenance of housing (cleaning and minor repairs), preparation of meals, management of a budget, etc.- Social skills: behaviour adapted to a certain situation (teamwork, interaction with superiors, respect for commitments made with third parties, etc.), improvement of communication skills and information on the working world, social security, social assistance, justice, etc.- Basic functional professional skills: use and maintenance of work tools, measuring techniques, relearning of basic arithmetic, literacy, etc.

ProActif is a non-profit association with the objective of:- Helping the unemployed out of their isolation,- Assisting their integration into the working world,- Bringing them back to active life.

The social objective of Proactif is to manage, initiate and support actions to fight unemployment, encouraging the integration of unemployed individuals into the job market. The association’s actions and projects aim to create an environment that is favourable to employment through job creation and the development of new sectors.

The objective of ProActif is:- To find employment for job-seekers- To train job-seekers,- To develop projects.

The CAS Association has several structures for housing, psychosocial management and professional employment for the disadvantaged and/or homeless. The services are organised in an assistance network that takes these individuals in and, as much as possible, reinserts them into society and into the regular job market.

The Centre Emmanuel works in the following areas:- Guidance and counselling for individuals/families with substance abuse problems,- Guidance and accompaniment to therapy,- Assistance for social reinsertion after the successful completion of therapy,- Mutual aid groups for the families of drug addicts.

The social objective of this association is to minimise the rate of unemployment in the northern region of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, through:- The establishment of a forum to bring together all of the region’s social and economic actors to engage in an in-depth analysis of the job market in the region and to develop measures for professional placement, and- The initiation, support and management of projects to enhance the integration of those looking for employment on the job market.